IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY…

New Zealand journalist and web blogger Catherine Randle was lucky enough to be on set to interview the cast and crew of Wilby Park. Over the following weeks we’ll be presenting her interview series here. First up is director Ian Fielding.

CR: What was the inspiration for Wilby Park?

IF: I wanted to dissect the grieving process, the principle idea being: how would it be if the private machinations of a person in grief somehow found themselves rendered into the reality of their everyday life.

It’s as if the lead character’s terrifying thoughts and troubles are playing themselves out directly in front of her rather than merely being false worries that pray on the back of her mind.

That idea really emerges through the nature of film itself, where as a novel may tackle this problem through stream of consciousness or myriad other internal devices – film requires you to transfer meaning into pictures and action.

The film’s framing, musical score and screenplay all suggest the filmic universe of film noir, in fact most of the film is shot in bright spaces and glistering sunshine not so much film Noir as film Blanc – terror played out not in the back alleys but in your back garden, terror with a smile on its face.

CR: Did you attend film school?

IF: I attended Digital Arts and Technology at Plymouth University it was an excellent course; it was half an art school and half IT centered. It helped me develop a more aesthetic approach to my work and understand how that may play out in the digital medium.

When a new house mate arrives in a cottage of female art students she discovers that one of her new roomies is dating the boy she fancies. In retaliation she launches a series of sinister psychological games against her love rival.

Wilby Park is a psychological thriller set in the fictional village of Wilby, embedded somewhere in the south of England.

A Young Girl took a walk through Wilby Park but has no memory of it. What happened to her?